Your stomach uses one of the most powerful naturally occurring acids to break down everything you eat. Stomach acid is even strong enough to completely dissolve a razor blade! Thankfully, we don’t actually feel any of that incredible acid working away in our bodies… but what happens if we do?

What Are Stomach Ulcers?

Stomach ulcers are sores, or acid burns, that form in your stomach lining. When you’re healthy, there is a thick layer of mucous that lines the inner walls of your stomach, protecting it from the strong acids inside which break down food during digestion. But if a stomach ulcer develops, that mucous lining gets weaker and weaker, until the walls of the stomach itself become damaged.

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Stomach Ulcer Symptoms

Stomach ulcers are best characterized by the burning stomach pain they bring at night or a few hours after eating.

If you find you’re constantly waking up in the middle of the night with stomach pains (they can happen anywhere from your belly button to just below your throat), it might be a sign of a stomach ulcer.

The same goes if you’re experiencing discomfort and pain a couple hours after every meal. If you’re eating 3 meals a day, it might actually seem like the pain is happening 1 or 2 hours before your next meal.

There are also signs that your stomach ulcer has become very serious. These include:

If you experience any of these symptoms, seek medical attention immediately. It’s important to take these signs very seriously, since some stomach ulcers can go unnoticed until they’re life-threatening.

What Causes Stomach Ulcers?

Your lifestyle impacts your digestion. Studies have found that there are 3 major things that can influence your stomach acid production and lead to painful, or even life-threatening stomach ulcers. Up to 95% of stomach ulcer cases can be attributed to these 3 factors:

NSAIDs (like Advil or aspirin) In one study, 80% of ulcer-related deaths occurred with people taking NSAIDs

H. Pylori bacteria (the cause of 70% of stomach ulcers)

Smoking. Regular smokers are 41% more likely to develop stomach ulcers than non-smokers.

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Natural Remedies for Ulcers

Thankfully there are many things you can easily do at home to treat stomach ulcers without the use of medication. We’ve put together a helpful list of Do’s and Don’ts if you or someone in your family develops a painful stomach ulcer.

Here’s what NOT to do…

Get stressed. Instead, Manage your anxiety and stress with yoga and meditation.

Feed your coffee addiction and your sweet tooth. Instead, avoid caffeine, processed foods, spicy foods, and a high sugar diet, since all of these can make your symptoms feel much worse.

We believe in using natural ingredients to be as healthy as possible. We believe dieting will never work as well as a lifestyle of healthy habits will. We believe you can treat pain and disease without relying on addictive drugs. We believe being happy is a big part of a healthy life.

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